traverse
by Lunaroid2906
Summary: AU. She was an ordinary, innocent little girl and he was an ordinary little boy with an extraordinary musical talent. But as soon as the same man walked into their lives, she turned into an assassin while he turned into a cold, ignorant avenger. Just who is this man? Prequel of Treacherous. Rated T for the strong theme. "I am known as Elysian, little girl." -Complete-
1. First Memory: Happiness

**traverse**

**disclaimer:**

Not owning Fairy Tail

**a/n:**

Welcome to the **prequel** of the **treacherous**! This story is set around **5 years before treacherous** story. This is about Lucy's past, Natsu's past, and, probably, Elysian's past! Lucy is about 5 years old and Natsu is about 7 years old. If you are a new reader, please read the previous story (**treacherous**) because in this story, there will be many spoilers and you don't want to be spoiled, right? Anyway, please enjoy this!

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**First Memory: Happiness**

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**_please read the author note above if you haven't read it yet_  
**

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Lucy sat in the backyard of her little house. The soon-turning-five year-old little girl was bored because her cat, Misa, was sleeping and did not budge when she poked her head; only stirred and yawned before continuing to sleep. She did not have anything to do now and it seemed reading book was her only choice. And so, the girl stood up, brushing away the dirt from her clothes, and entered the house to pick her story book. Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Beauty and The Beast stories were packed into one book with a well-drawn hard cover.

She liked the book so much because it was her father's birthday present to her when she was turned three. And for almost a year, her father had not turned back home from his work in a town far away from here. Thus, Lucy lived with her mother and her cat in her little house on the edge of the town.

Deciding to read it in the backyard with her sleeping cat, Lucy once again stood up and walked there, as she wondered why her mother had not come home yet. Her mother was away to the bazaar to buy some supplies for her oncoming birthday, but it was not usual for her to take this long. Her birthday, Lucy smiled widely, was on the next week on July first. She had asked her mother, begged her mother, to send a mail for her father to come home so they can celebrate her birthday together as a family.

Her smile widened as she remembered that yesterday, the postman came and gave her a reply mail from her father. Apparently, her father would arrive several days before her birthday, which she was glad that she got to spend some days with her father. She daydreamed about her father; did his appearance change? Did he grow his beard? Would he and her mother… stop their quarrel?

A deep frown appeared on her face as she hugged the book tightly. The last time her father stayed there was also the third time she heard her parents argued before he stormed out and had not come back to this day. It was in the afternoon. She was playing in her room on the second floor when she heard the quarrel and hesitated on approaching the source. Then, after she heard a loud _thud_ and a door slammed hardly, she peeked through her room's window and saw her father walked out of her house yard, carrying a briefcase and did not glance back. It was the last time Lucy ever saw him.

And when she walked down the stairs, she saw her mother on the floor sobbed with her face buried in her hands. A black mark was visibly seen on her arm while a red liquid slide down her hand from the forehead. Lucy gripped the hem of her skirt, as she did not know what to do. The last time she asked her mother what was wrong and why did she cry, she ended up being slapped by her mother and telling her to shut up.

The slap was hard that Lucy was still remembered how it taste.

"Good afternoon."

Lucy heard someone speak and silently thanked whoever it was to snap her out of her bad memory. Raising her head, she saw a man with black hair, staring down at her with a smile. Lucy tilted her head to the side, confusion clearly written on her face.

"This is Heartfilia's house, am I right?" the man asked.

The girl hugged her book tighter to her chest. She did not answer his question as her mother did not allow her to talk to someone she did not know. Eyeing the stranger cautiously, she stood up and quickly walk to her house, stumbling a little in the process. But as she was about to close the door, the man said, "Isn't it quite rude to just walk away?"

"Mama taught me not to talk to strangers," she said.

The man kept his smile. "But I believe I'm not a stranger because I'm your father's acquaintance, and I knew you. You are Lucy Heartfilia, right? I've met you when you were only a baby," he said.

"I'm sorry, mister, but I still consider you as a stranger," she said with a formal manner, the one her mother taught her, "…because I don't know you as much as you know me. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

His smile cracked into a grin as he leaned to a tree. "You sure so smart for a little girl, Lucy-san."

Her caution meter increased as he made a walk to her cat; stroking the sleeping cat, a harmless thing to do, but he made the distance between them shortened. The girl gripped the door knob tighter, fearing the man and his friendliness toward her.

"Is your father home yet?" he asked, but gaining no answer from the girl who was peeking between the door and the door frame. "Fine then, I'll come again tomorrow and please don't tell your mother that I came today. Good afternoon, Lucy-san."

And then he left. Lucy was still standing there with a look of confused adorned her face. If he was her father's acquaintance, why did her mother should not know that he came? That one thought left her pondering as she called her cat to enter the house and locked the door.

"Misa-chan? What did you eat just now?" she asked for the coughing cat on the floor. Crouching to stroke its fur, she was scratched instead as the cat ran to the second floor. That left Lucy alone in the living room, crouching on the floor with a bleeding hand. "Scarlet red," she mumbled, gazing at the blood wondrously.

"Lucy, dear, Mama's back!" she heard a soft voice and the door opened.

"Mama! Welcome back!" she ran and hugged her mother. "Why is Mama so long?"

The woman with the same blonde-colored hair smiled. "Mama met the postman and he gave this mail to us! Guess what? Papa is coming tomorrow!"

"Really?" Lucy bounced as her brown eyes widened with an excited gleam on it. "Mama, we should make a homecoming party for Papa!"

"Of course we should, dear," her mother chirped happily, "After all, it has been almost a year since we last saw him! Help me bake the cake will you, Lucy?"

The girl nodded vigorously and proceeds to helping her mother to bake the cake. She grabbed a little sack of flour and a jar of butter and placed them on the table. While her mother unpacking the paper bag filled with ingredients, Lucy asked her for the sugar as her face scrunched in pain when received it. "Lucy, is that blood? Are you hurt?" her mother asked, noticing her red hand.

"Misa-chan scratched me when I was going to stroke her. She was coughing and I saw her swallowed something round. I just wanted to make her feel better, but…" her voice trailed off as she stared the scarlet liquid. "I think this is pretty, the blood has a pretty color," she smiled, "Mama, what do you think?"

"It has a nice color, Lucy, but we have to treat that scratch. We don't want you to get sick when Papa is coming back, right? Now, where did I put that medicine kit?"

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Natsu sat across his mother as he played his violin while his mother listening it quietly. They were in his practice room after having an afternoon tea together. He glanced to his mother, who was closing her eyes, and her big belly, silently wished his eyes could see the baby inside his mother's belly. The female doctor who came yesterday, with a name he did not bother to remember since it was too long, said that his mother was healthy, as well as the baby.

Noticing that his mother was falling asleep, he played a softer song as he wondered what his sister's hair color would be. He hoped it would be the same blue as his mother had because it was the most beautiful color he ever seen. Natsu could not help but wondering why his hair color was pink– or salmon as he preferred to call it.

His father, Igneel Dragneel, had this fiery-red hair, which he thought so cool. Nevertheless, he sighed in relief for his hair color was not the mixture of his parents' hair color; otherwise, he would have _purple_ as the color of his hair. He looked ridiculous enough with this pink– salmon color and purple would turn him into a clown for sure.

They had discussed it before; his little sister's name would be Wendy and because of that, Natsu often called his sister Wendy when he talked to the big belly, even if she was not born yet. The fact that he would have a sibling excites him, and in three months, the baby would be born and thus, Natsu won't be alone anymore. He could teach her a lot about music and violin, but he wanted her to play piano so they could do a duet.

"Mother, are you tired? You should rest in your room," Natsu shook his mother gently. The boy's face was adorned with a worried frown, but he managed to make his voice devoid of concern, seeing she had enough of peoples worried about her and the baby's health. "You will catch a cold here."

"No, I'm fine, Natsu, just slightly dozed off while listening to your song. It calms me," she said, a smile appeared on her face.

Natsu grinned and sat beside her with his tiny hand rubbing his mother's big belly. "I can't wait to meet my sister," he said.

"Me, too, and so does your father," his head was gently patted by her as she replied.

Comfortable silence following as Natsu rested his head on his mother's laps. His eyes closed in an attempt to resting his eyes, having fatigued by his constant reading of the violin's score in his study session with Lyra. He just wanted to forget it and focused on hearing his sister's movement inside the big belly. Natsu just could not wait to meet her and do many things together with her.

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**to be continued-**


	2. Second Memory: Papa

**traverse**

**Disclaimer:**

Hiro Mashima does own the Fairy Tail

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**Second Memory: Papa**

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**_traverse_**

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"Lucy, wake up," Lucy heard a singsong voice near her, "Rise and shine! Rise and shine! Today is sunny-bright and Papa will be home anytime soon! Wakey, wakey!"

The half-asleep little girl stirred in her thick blanket, yawning in the process, but not made any attempt to wake up. Instead, she pulled the blanket over her head to block the voice and tried to get some more sleep.

"Lucy, dear, you should wake up now and help Mama to prepare the cake we made last night," the voice continued, but Lucy did not budge. Faintly, Lucy heard a sigh and the door being closed gently.

Lucy was, actually, a light sleeper and she used to wake up early to help her mother do the chores before her mother went to the town to work, leaving her alone in her house with her cat. But today, she just wanted to sleep more. Baking the cake last night drained her energy, despite the fact she only helped her mother to stir the dough. Apparently, she made a wrong measurement and resulting to make two cakes at the end.

And the ingredients for making her birthday cake were all run out. Lucy was sure she would not have a birthday cake on her birthday, but if her cake was spent in her father's homecoming party, then she won't ask her mother for baking another.

Her eyes quickly opened when she heard a sound of glass broken, perhaps a cup or a plate, courtesy her mother's usual clumsiness, but now, it was followed by shouts. She recognized the voices. It was her mother's and… her father's. Were they having another quarrel?

Lucy wanted to go and find out, but at the same time, she did not have the courage even to walk to her room's door. She decided to continue hiding under the blanket until their shouts settled down. But after some minutes, the shouts did not cease, instead, it grew furious, making her body trembled and she started to move around under the blanket in the attempt of calming her furiously-beating heart. Her stomach churned and she quickly moved her hand to her mouth to stifle a surprised squeak and flinched hardly when she heard a loud man's shout followed by a loud sound of door banged close.

She questioned to herself about what made them quarreling so often, resulting her mother injured badly. But her mother always hid it and never told her what the reason was. Lucy did not dare to listen about what their quarreling about; she just scared that they actually hate her and disowned her. No, her mother would never think about that. She was so kind and loving towards her, there was no way she hated her. But apparently, her father did.

Silence then filled the house. Lucy waited for about ten minutes before she crept out of her blanket, steadying herself as her body still trembling, and calmed her hammering heartbeat. Opening the door quietly and slowly, she glanced to the sides before walking down the stairs. The table in the living room was flipped and the vase crashed on the floor. Her mother's hand-made table cloth was ripped and red stained on a side. Papers scattered on the floor near the piano–her mother's piano scores, Lucy guessed. Between the living room's catastrophe state, Lucy could find even the smallest needle her mother missed days ago, but she could not find her mother.

Lucy wondered, how come the room dark despite the brightness outside, and saw the window covered by something on the outside. Glancing cautiously with a fearful steps, Lucy saw the kitchen was brighter and hoping that her mother would be there. True, she saw her mother there, but what she expected was far beyond the reality.

The adult woman was sitting on the floor almost lifelessly. A little knife in her right hand and her left arm was bleeding furiously. Her stare was blank and unfocused as tears streamed down her pale cheeks, but there was no movement she made.

Lucy stopped and almost stumbled when she saw her mother cut her skin without even flinching or hissing at the pain. Her brain stopped working when her eyes met hers. "Mama…" she managed to choke out after standing motionlessly.

A smile, a grotesque smile made its way to her mother's face and she dropped the knife with a loud _clang_ sound that echo the noiseless kitchen. "Lucy, dear, Papa will be back in a moment," she said softly, coldly, "Why don't you change into your dress? The one Mama gave you on your birthday last year? Papa will be happy to see you in that beautiful dress."

She had no much choice but to obey her mother. Running back to her room, changing her PJ's into her dress, she could not help but feeling a little scared to see her mother's state. Remembering her bleeding arm, she decided to pick the first aid kit to treat the injuries.

"Mama, please don't hurt yourself," she said after walking back to the kitchen and saw her mother sliced her feet. "Lucy will be a good girl from now on, so please, stop hurting yourself," her sights blurred from the unshed tears, unsure whether from fear or sadness. The woman ignored her and grabbed the knife once again.

Swallowed her saliva, Lucy made her way to her mother. Her small hand gripped her mother's and took the knife away. "Lucy is going to treat Mama's wound, Lucy doesn't want Mama to be sick when Papa is finally home so we can start the party," she said and wiped the blood away.

"Isn't it pretty, Lucy? The scarlet red color is beautiful," her mother mumbled, replied with a weak nod from her. "Lucy, do you love Mama?"

She nodded again. "I love Mama, I always love Mama."

"If you love Mama, do you want to make Mama happy?"

"I will do anything to make Mama happy," Lucy said with a smile.

"Anything?"

"Anything. Lucy will do anything to make and keep Mama happy."

Her mother smiled while her eyes as blank as Lucy's eyes first met. "Will Lucy kill Mama? Because Mama wanted to die so badly."

Lucy's world turned still. The world around her lost its colors, only gray, darker gray, and black were the color. Once again, she felt her brain stopped working, but this time she felt her heart wanted to stop working, too.

"Lucy doesn't want to kill Mama," she said after mustering her courage to speak, to escape from the stillness of her colorless world.

The little girl saw her mother reached something under her feet. A smaller knife; a dagger. "But Mama doesn't want to live any longer. And Mama doesn't want to be killed by Papa, so please, Lucy, dear, kill me now before he kills me."

"I don't want to!" she screamed, tears started to fall as she stumbled backwards. "I don't want to be alone!"

"Layla…?"

"Quick, Lucy, my lovely daughter, kills Mama. Mama will not regret it, Mama will not mad at you," she smiled gently, softly,

coldly.

"Or we can die together so Lucy will not be alone. And we will be together forever."

"No! I don't want to!" she wailed as her mother gave her the dagger and covered her little hand with hers. "No! Mama, please! No! NO!"

She wailed, she screamed, she shouted, she begged.

But her mother did not listen.

With a soft smile adorned her beautiful face, Lucy felt her mother's hand tugged her hand-gripping-dagger, and a second later, Lucy heard a dull sound of something squished horribly.

In front of her, she saw blood poured from her mother's body as she stumbled backwards once again. Her body shook hard and her eyes opened widely with a disbelieving look colored it. Her mouth slightly agape, ready to scream, longing to scream, but the barely-audible whimpers were the only one she could voice out.

Once again, her world stilled. Unmoving body of her mother absorbed its colors and made her world lack of color. She saw gray, darker gray, and black colors, but her eyes focused on the scarlet red that was streamed down, just like a river that slowly made its way to her.

_No, no, no, no, this is only a dream, this is only a nightmare, I will wake up with Mama beside me and singing a lullaby, I will be alright; Mama is completely fine and the nightmare will go away, this is only a bad dream, this is only a nightmare, this is…_

_...reality…_

"MAMA!"

_Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall_

Lucy's tiny fingers shook her mother's limp body as strong as she could, but her mother won't budge. Tears had streamed down her cheeks and fell to her clothes, dampening her birthday-given, pink-colored, soft and frilly dress. It was now dampened with blood. _I didn't do that on purpose_, she desperately thought. Biting her lower lip, she peeked at the dagger fearfully. Behind her, her father stared at them wide-eye, clearly furious and shocked at the same time. A bottle of sake was tightly gripped by her father.

Then he dragged her by her hair to a small room, throwing her in and locked the door. Lucy and her father was the only person inside the room. He ripped his clothes and tied her hands behind her back.

_Humpty Dumpty had a great fall_

Feeling not satisfied, he started beating her.

"You're a good for nothing child! An annoying pest!"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Papa…"

"It should be better if you were never born at all!"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Papa…"

The sounds of soft whimper were barely audible as another sound of beating her father caused echoed the room. She couldn't do anything. Her body was too weak to fight back. She didn't have anything around her to use as a weapon and her hands were tied behind her back. But she was not going to fight back. She only had to obey.

"Don't you dare call me 'Papa'! I'm not your freaking father, you monster!"

"I-I'm so sorry…"

_All the King's horses and all the King's men_

Long blonde hair scattered on the dirty wooden floor, smeared with blood that trickling down from her head. Her small body slumped in the corner; her legs were having some swollen injuries as the result of her father's constant beating with a sake bottle.

"You little monster!"

"I'm not a monster!" she retorted back before she could stop herself.

He stopped his beating for her surprise. But his eyes glowed in anger, his grip on the bottle tightening. The bottle cracked and she flinched at the sound. "This will be the last, Lucy dear, and you'll be with your dearest Mama," he raised his arm high and swung it with the bottle aimed at her head. Lucy had given up, readying herself to feel the bottle and, she hoped, really hoped that this will be really the last.

She shut her eyes tightly. A soft voice of her mother's sprung inside her head, telling her to join her in an unknown yet beautiful place. Then the voice changed.

"Fight him," an unknown voice filled her ears.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked and was confused why she can communicate in this critical time. Was the time just frozen? The voice didn't answer, and then she asked, "How? I'm weaponless, I'm defenseless…"

Replied by silence, Lucy, cautiously, opened her eyes after she heard a loud _thud_ sound and saw her father lying on the wooden floor. With a dagger stabbed his chest and he didn't stir. Red, scarlet liquid once again filled her sighting. Lucy felt her head hurt and the smell of blood made her feeling nauseous. Then she felt her sight blurred, but she saw a glimpse of a man with black hair crouched in front of her. His wide grin was the only one she could remember as her world became black.

_Couldn't put Humpty together again._

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**to be continued-**

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**a/n:**

Hello! Welcome back to the traverse! Did you enjoy this one? So far, this is my favorite chapter (I'm currently writing the third chapter now) and I think this one is better than the previous chapter.

Fun fact about this chapter is:

When I wrote about Layla attempt of suicide, I was like grinning crazily and my friend told me that I'm a psychopath.

Don't worry, I'm not a psycho.

Anyway, thanks for the four reviewers! Love you so much!

**Noonespecial**, I guess I should give you a nickname- wait, have I given you a nickname? Whatever, your nickname should be **Neru** because it sounds cute :3 And yeah, I'm Indonesian, so, hello neighbor! Never guess you're Malaysian! And sure, let's be friend. Well, they say 'practices make perfect' right? But I'm not that good, actually. Oh, and I'm a muslim so yeah, I'm fasting now. Are you?

**May-chan**, sadly, no, we will not find that out. Let's just say that Jude is hating Lucy for unknown reason or he's kind of, how should I say it... mentally retarded (for the lack of better and polite word). See you next chapter!

**Liz**, I guess I'm updating... now! Okay, just forget it, but I think I'll update the third chapter next week because it hasn't finished yet. Please be patient, okay?

**SkyFairies**, I'm going to make this nalu for sure! But you can't find it here, sorry. I have a project (this is the second part of my project) and have you read the previous story {the main story (**treacherous**)}? If you have, this is the prequel of that story and there will be not much contact between Lucy and Natsu. And after I finished this prequel, I'm going to make the sequel which focused on them! Please look forward to it!

Don't forget to **REVIEW**, okay? If I get many review, the chance of quicker update is higher! See you next chpater!


	3. Third Memory: Kare no wana ni ochita

**traverse**

**disclaimer:**

I don't own Fairy Tail

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**Third Memory: Fell to His Trap_  
_**

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_London Bridge is falling down,_

_Falling down, falling down,_

_London Bridge is falling down,_

_My fair lady._

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Lucy woke up with a wet cloth on her forehead. Her head was somewhat heavy and as she tried to sit on the bed, the world started to spin. So she decided to lie down and let her eyes adjust to the brightness of the room. It was dark, the lamps were off, but Lucy could see the color of light pink painted the wall. The bed was comfy and bigger than the one she had in her home. The girl glancing her eyes to the front right side and saw a big dark brown cupboard with two doors. It was made from a fine mahogany, Lucy could tell.

She wondered whose room was this and where she was now. And how did she was able to end up there. Someone must have had taken her there. Or maybe worse, she was kidnapped. But she brushed off the thought of being kidnapped; her legs were hurting even as she asleep, but now, they were patched up. And she was not tied, either. It lowered the possibility of being kidnapped even more, but still, she could not just stay there, could she?

As Lucy wondered what she should do and what she_ could_ do in her weak state–head aching and her body feeling abnormal on its temperature, the door was suddenly opened, revealing a man with black hair holding a white bowl. The girl tried to guess who the man was, but was failing. Apparently, her eyes were blurred by her sudden and quick eye movement from one object to another, making she could not see his face well, but she was sure she had met him somewhere before.

The man walked to her side, placing the bowl on the table by her bed. By now, Lucy's focus had recovered from its blurriness and she could clearly see his face. He was smiling, or at least she thought so, but his eyes emitting coldness and, _Kami-sama_, if his eyes were literally sharp, it would have pierced through her eyes.

The smart little girl felt a wave of fear and anxiety from meeting his gaze, and slowly, steadily, in order to calm herself, her gaze fell into the bowl and examined it instead. From the steam, Lucy thought it seemed filled with hot and thick, she did not know, food, or maybe another thing.

_But it can't be a poison, can it?_ She thought, hope lacing her question.

And for her little surprise, the man pulled a chair and changed the cloth on her forehead and she felt the same coldness as the one she felt on her sleep. It helped her to calm her pounding headache and the world spun slower than before for her relief. Her stare fell to the ceiling, as she could not bear to make another direct eye contact with the stranger.

Much to her surprise, she heard him asking. "How are you feeling, Lucy?"

So he knew her name, Lucy mused and tried not to flinch visibly. The fact that the stranger knew her name whilst she did not know any single thing about him was not good and discomforted her. The chance of him being her kidnapper rose again, and by his grotesque smile, Lucy grimaced mentally, it rose even more.

Lucy decided not to answer him, whether because she simply scared and anxious or because she did that for defending herself, she did not know.

"I thought so," the man chuckled lightly as if interpreted her silence as a 'no'. "Well, I made this porridge for you. You must be hungry, right?" He offered the bowl at her.

She saw the porridge and cringed as she felt the sudden urge to vomit. No, food did not affect her stomach well for now. "I'm not hungry," she said and turned her head away as for hiding her surprised expression of finding the courage to speak back at him.

"But you're sick, Lucy, and sick people should eat to regain health quickly," he insisted.

Lucy shifted her body slowly so her back facing him. The man used too much familiarity for her comfort, despite the fact she did not know who he was. But she felt the urge to trust him, which she found it weird. Deciding to give up to her curiosity, she asked the stranger, "Who are you, mister?"

"It seems that you have forgotten my face," she heard him sighed, "I'm your father's acquaintance."

She glanced back, eyes opened slightly wider for studying the man better. And indeed, he was actually the same man that stroked her cat. Lucy sighed in relief inwardly, but quickly frowned, remembering that she was now in a place she did not familiar with. "Where am I?" she gulped, her voice grew smaller as she asked hesitantly, "And w-where is Mama?"

Lucy saw his eyelids dropped slowly and finally covered his dark-colored irises. Whatever this man was going to tell her, Lucy guessed it would be not a good one. After a short moment of stillness, the man opened his eyes, but not staring back at her. Mouth opened to talk. His voice sounded sorrowful as he spoke slowly, "She is now in the heaven," but the wicked gleam in his eyes was gone unnoticed by her.

Her head pounded painfully–something appeared in her head. The memory of her mother bleeding on the floor, her hair was smeared red with her own blood flashed in her mind. A knife– a dagger struck right on her chest, on her heart, and making the blood streamed out of her milky white skin, pooling her lifeless slumped body and tainted her feet in red, sticky liquid. _But it has a pretty color, pretty, pretty, deep scarlet red color._

She remembered how her body stilled and shook at the far from pleasant sight in front of her. She remembered how her tiny hands shook her mother's limp body. She remembered how the blood dampened her pink, frilly dress. She remembered clearly how she killed her mother.

"I killed… I killed her, Mama…" she whispered, "I killed Mama."

_No! Mama, please! No! NO!_

"I killed Mama, I killed her– She is… dead," she whispered, eyes widened.

_She is now in the heaven_

"But, but," she whispered, voice cracked, "she is now in… in the heaven… r-right?"

_Right? Right? Please say she's fine, please say she's happy, please, please, please come back to me, please, please, Mama, please,_

_don't leave me alone_

"Yes, she is in the heaven now, happier there, watching you from there," he replied. "But you are mistaken, Lucy."

Her sight was blurry from the tears and she felt sweat formed on her palms. Hazily, she saw a hand reach her forehead and later, she felt the coldness back on her forehead. "You did not kill your mother," he said.

"H-How? Why didn't... I?"

"Because she did that willingly."

"But I s-stabbed her!" she screamed hoarsely, remembering her hand on that cold wooden hilt with beautiful carving, covered by her mother's soft hand.

"But she helped you to do that. Otherwise, you won't do that, right?" he countered.

Lucy went silent. She bit her lower lip hard as her hand gripped the sheet tightly. Her surrounding started to spin again, and lacked its colors. Soft pink disappeared, white dissolved, dark brown changed into dark gray. Gray, darker gray, and black. As if the man's words absorbed the color, the darkness started to surround her and the man. And the man's hair almost unseen as its color blended with the background; black.

And his eyes, his sharp, gleaming eyes, were shining deep scarlet red color. Like a cat's eyes in the dark, glowing red beautifully as the pupil grew into a sharp and thin vertical line. Just like a cat's. He was a black cat with red eyes, deep scarlet red eyes. Just like blood, red as blood. _Pretty, pretty deep scarlet red-colored liquid._

"You should rest more, Lucy," he said after pressing his hand on her forehead, making she jerked out of her world.

"Papa… Where is Papa? Is he–"

"He's with your mother now and he will be happier there with her," he cut her, knowing what her question would be. "I killed him," his voice was low, barely heard, just like whispering. As if he was sharing his big secret towards her.

"Eh?" her eyes were wide. "Why?"

"Because he's a bad man," he leaned back on his chair, a smile made its way to his face, "Because I'm an _assassin_."

Lucy inhaled quietly. "Papa is not a bad man," she muttered, lying to herself, for she remembered being called a monster and beaten up by him. She remembered the word he just said that she never heard it before. Her eyes then lit up with curiosity. "What is an '_assassin_'?"

He smiled, he smirked, and his eyes gleamed wickedly which Lucy was oblivious of the two last, for brown eyes too focused to his foreign word. "They punish bad people," he explained simply.

"Why?"

"Because they are ordered to," he said as he folded his arms.

"Are they the same as the police?" she asked, "Mama told me once that the police caught bad people and punish them."

The man shook his head. "No, assassin does not catch them; they simply punish bad people by killing them."

"Was Papa a bad man?" she asked.

"Yes, he was," he replied, "Let's just say he fools many people to get what he wanted, that was his job." The man leaned into the bed as he asked, "Don't you hate me for killing your father?"

Lucy quickly shook her head before she could stop the movement. "Why is that, little girl?" he asked.

"Because I don't like Papa. He injured Mama badly," her eyelashes lowered, "and maybe that is why Mama wanted to die…"

She fell silent, remembering her father's beating after her mother died. Her brown eyes traced her legs that were covered by bandages. It was neat, just like her mother's job. She should thank him and not bother him anymore, she thought. "Thank you so much for your treatment, mister. But I have to go back to my house now," she said and positioned herself into sitting position.

"I burned your house."

"What?" her eyes widened.

"I burned your house," he repeated, "because the villagers will surely find your mother's and father's body– corpse. They might suspect it as a murder action, which is half true, and maybe kidnapping because you aren't there."

Lucy gripped her clothes tight as her brain processed the information she just get. She did not have a house to go back to and her parents were now dead. Her mother had lost her contact with her relatives and she did not know anyone from her father. Her grandmother died before she was born, Lucy remembered, while her grandfather hated her for unknown reason.

_The townspeople_, she thought, _Mama must have some friends in the town, but which one? I've never met one. Mama never brought me to the town… W-What should I do? What should I do now…?_

"Where should I go…" she muttered lowly, tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she refused to cry.

"Well, Lucy, since you have nowhere to go," she turned to him, "how about living here from now on, together with me? I'll be your father," he offered with a smile. A wicked smile, but Lucy did not notice it; her mind was too occupied with the offer.

"My… father?"

"That's right, so, do you want to?"

"You will be my father?"

"Correct," he grinned.

Her frown disappeared, changed into a look of bewilderment. Him? Being her new father? Why would he want that? After all, they were a perfect stranger, at least for her. Who was he for offered her such thing? He might do harm things to her; he might be a threat for her; he might be a perfect stranger for her, but…

_I want to have a father, a father who loves me…_

"What do you say, Lucy?"

"I…" she whispered, gazes set into a determined one. "I want to have a father…" she said with harder voice.

The man grinned. "Perfect! Now, get some rest, Lucy," he helped her to lean back to the bed, "I'm going to re-heat this porridge, call me if you need something," he said as he walked to the door.

"…Papa?"

"What is it, Lucy?"

She smiled thinly. "I want to be," she yawned, "an assassin, too," before her eyes closed and her body fully relaxed.

He nodded as a grin appeared on his face. Black eyes gleamed dangerously as he closed the door and walked through the dimly-lighted corridor. "Sweet dreams," he chuckled, "_Lucy_."

* * *

**to be continued-**

* * *

**a/n:**

Hullo, all! So I changed some of the scene here and there in this chapter, resulting the update a little bit late (I wanted to update it yesterday) but I hope the changes are for the better. Thanks for the eight reviewers on the previous chapter! Love you all! /hugs/

Anyway, I haven't write the fourth chapter yet, because the school is starting, although it's so useless because the teachers are focused for the new students and all, and I haven't got the right time to write it. Nevertheless, I will try to update it four or five days later, or maybe a week? I don't know, so stay tuned!

And please **Review**! I love to hear your thoughts and comments~ See you next chappie!

Ps. I don't know if the Japanese is correct or not, well, I'm only using google translate (crappy, I know) but if any of you spot the mistake(s), please tell me! I really appreciate it!


	4. Fourth Memory: Talent

**traverse**

**disclaimer:**

Hiro Mashima does own Fairy Tail

* * *

**Fourth Memory: Talent**

* * *

Lucy trailed behind her father rather slowly. Her limbs were sore, courtesy of the physical training her father gave her, but she did her best not to show it to him. Running more than thirty laps for over five hours did nothing good for her legs and the spar with her father was tearing her muscles. In simpler words, she felt worn-out.

Listing her activities the past three days, she found nothing other than physical training, martial art lesson, spar, quick rest, eat, and sleep. Scratch having a quick shower; her feet were numb as soon as she stepped into her room and collapsed to her bed. She did not even bother changing her sweaty clothes, for her energy had drained completely out of her small body.

Her father never told her that being an assassin was easy and now Lucy knew why. An assassin, at the very least, must have quick speed, excellent aim, quick thought, and able to use any weapon they were given. And out of those four basic requirements, Lucy had accomplished two; excellent aim and quick thought, which they were her nature. And in order to accomplish the two other, her father had prepared a little game for her.

Today, clad in her simple white shirt and short pants, they headed to the place where the game would be started. It was early in the morning, the sun was barely visible, and they had already walked out of their house. It was nice to breathe the fresh air once in a while. They walked to the place where the game will be started, and what Lucy confused about was the fact that his father brought along two rabbits; one black and one white.

She was silently wondering; what kind of game her father prepared for her. A game involving rabbits was rare, Lucy thought, but anything could be involved in a game. Patting the black rabbit's head in her arms, she barely realized that her father's movement in front of her came to a stop, making her to bump into his side.

"We've arrived, Lucy," he said.

Letting the black rabbit leapt out of her arms, Lucy almost gaped at the scenery in front of her. It was a meadow with a thick, dense forest several feet from her. They were on the border of the forest. She could not help but wonder what kind of game to be played in the forest.

"Have you heard the story of Alice's Adventure in Wonderland?" she heard him asked her. With a nod, her father then continued. "You will be playing it now to sharpen your instinct. By sharpening your instinct, you will accomplish the last two requirements, or maybe more than those two."

Lucy nodded again. "What should I do in this game, Papa?"

"One of these rabbits held a key to our rendezvous point deep in the forest, that's where I will wait for you. Your task is to choose one of the rabbits to follow and _try_ to get the key, but feel free to change your prey when you find nothing on a rabbit you choose," he explained. "I give you a hint; eyes always deceive your sight. Good luck, Lucy."

Seeing the rabbits quickly ran into the forest, Lucy quickly followed the white one. Grabbing a small pebble in the process, she halted sharply when the rabbit slowed itself. She hid behind the bushes and waited for the right timing as she silently scanned the white rabbit's small body. A red ribbon was tied to its neck; maybe the key was there, no wonder she had to catch the rabbit.

A small branch snapped under her feet as she frozen on the spot. The white rabbit was calmly eating the weed, as if not noticing her presence, which making she sighed in relief. She needed to make it unconscious, fast, before it noticed her and make a run again.

Still holding the pebble in her hand, she aimed to its back side of the head to make it unconscious immediately. With a swift movement of her arm, the small sharp stone was thrown and hit the head rather strongly. The rabbit stumbled and making no movement afterwards. Cheering for herself mentally, Lucy walked out of her hiding place and nudged the rabbit's head. It was when she realized she had hit it too hard, the red blood smeared its white fur and dripped to the ground.

But nevertheless, she had to find this key like she was instructed. She could care less about the rabbit's wound. Picking the rabbit's limp body, she found nothing around it and the long red bow was only a collar for it. She put the rabbit back to the ground before untie the ribbon and shoved it into her pocket. _Might be useful in the future_.

It was when she was about to search for the black one that she heard a roar. A tiger or, maybe, a lion was nearby here. Acting on pulse, she climbed the nearest tree and hid her scent by rubbing the tree's sap around her clothes. She felt her heart beating hardly on her chest when the big cat appeared several feet under her and walking in a small circle around the white rabbit before devouring it.

Watching the lion's greed of eating the rabbit, Lucy shuddered slightly at the thought of those sharp claws piercing her skin. This is a survival game, Lucy realized, albeit a little too late. She punished herself inwardly for not bring along her dagger, but quickly smiled as her eyes caught the sight of the small metal weapon strapped on the lion's wagging tail. The question was how to reach and take the small weapon without making the lion aware of her presence.

And again, the tail was every cat's sensitive point other than their ears, wasn't it?

Lucy decided to wait until the lion finished its small meal and go before she could make another act. Reminiscing the game's title, Lucy finally understood that the black rabbit was the true rabbit she had to chase, the lion was the Cheshire Cat, and she wondered who will be the Mad Hatter. Or maybe, if her guesses were right, she might meet the Red Queen.

She watched as the lion sniffed around almost curiously, before taking its leave. Now, Lucy was left contemplating whether should she follow the carnivore or not. If she followed the lion, she might, somehow, get the dagger and use it to build up her almost nonexistence defense. But in this deep forest, she might stumble into another lion, or worse, she entered the lion's den.

Her main task was to retrieve the key, she reminded herself. By now, with her luck, the black rabbit might be hiding somewhere and she hoped that she could find it before the lion did. She decided that it was now a race between her and the lion, whose instinct that was better, she wondered?

* * *

Elysian chuckled as the girl darted almost instantly after he let the rabbits go. He sighed as he saw her picked the white one. _Wrong move, _he thought, but he could not expect more since she had only trained under him for three days and he had taught her nothing other than some basic moves of martial art for self-defense. He had not taught her with weaponry, not before she passed this test to measure out her instinct.

He walked into the forest quietly and saw Lucy's hiding place quite clearly. The man made a mental note to training her vision; this kind of darkness was, undoubtedly, bothered her sightings. _But she might work on it by pure instinct_, he mused. And the thought was right; her aim would not that good if her vision was bad. A wide grin plastered on his face as he walked deeper to find a big cage. Untying the rope around the beast's mouth, he opened the cage almost instantly as it let out a big roar.

"Now, what would you do, Lucy?" he snickered as he followed the lion to observe her reaction.

If her instinct worked, she would hide her presence and scent. And now, he threw a meat to make the lion go back to the cage, for his further observing object; loyalty. Will she abandon her task for the purpose of her self-defense or not?

His guess was wrong when he saw she walked in the opposite direction, apparently to search for the black rabbit. His grin widened as he proceeds on following her without locking the lion's cage. He wondered whose instinct that was better, hers, or the lion's?

* * *

Lucy almost jumped in happiness as she spotted a black fur ball that was moving and hopping quietly between the thick grasses. Crouching low on the ground, she waited until the rabbit stopped its jumping while trying to locate the key. Making it unconscious was her choice, but this time, she made sure her strength would not that strong to injure its head and lured the lion out of its hiding place.

Yes, she was aware that the lion was also eyeing the rabbit somewhere around her. One wrong move and she could be its prey instead. But she could not afford of letting the rabbit eaten by the lion. And thus, she decided to make her first move of putting the rabbit unconscious.

One sharp rock hit its head, but not hard enough to make it unconscious and so, the rabbit ran for its life. Lucy stunned to see the lion jumped out of its hiding place and pounced to the rabbit. Yeah, several steps to reach the rabbit and she would be its breakfast instead. Lucy swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched the lion devoured the wounded animal.

She took a deep breath before stalking as quiet as she could closer to its tail. Without touching the tail, she easily took the dagger from it and retreated back to her hiding place. While waiting the beast eating its breakfast, Lucy let her brain worked before she took any move. If the rabbit held the key and the lion ate it along its body, that mean she just need to kill the lion right? Her mind quickly formed a plan of how to kill the lion now that she had owned the dagger from the lion's tail.

The dagger was light on her hand, but the sharpness was all what the matter. Once the lion finished eating the rabbit that was when Lucy would attack it. She could not take the risk of attacking when it was having a meal; lion always aggressive when it comes to its food, but usually, it would loafing around after it finished its meal.

Now that the lion sat quietly, licking its paws calmly, Lucy threw the dagger to its head, making it roared angrily. Lucy quickly ran into its back and used the red ribbon to shut its mouth. The lion struggled and let out a stifled roar when she jabbed her dagger to its neck. Blood started to wet her hand, but her grip on the dagger was firm. Muttered a low sorry, she cut the head off of its body and making the body slumped.

The girl sighed in relief as she did not need to hold her breath any longer. A smile crept into her face when she realized that her task was almost completed. Not giving any thought of the blood that was smearing her clothes; she plunged the dagger to its abdomen and tore open the skin. Blood leaked as soon as the skin opened, revealing the fresh internal organ of the lion. They were red, deep scarlet red.

Silently, Lucy compared the dead animal's blood to human's blood. It did not have much difference; they were the same scarlet red colored. And the thickness, the viscosity, was also the same. But maybe the lion's had duller scent, much to her liking, or was it because her nose had used to the scent of blood, she did not know. Remembering her late father's book of human's internal organ, Lucy decided that the carnivore's heart was not the same as humans. It was tinier and the shape was different.

Eyeing the blood that was pouring from the neck, Lucy's hand reached its head and stroked its mane. Its eyes were open, black orbs lacked light and focus. She sighed as she continued her searching for the key. Tearing the stomach off of its place, Lucy's nose wrinkled in disgust as the enzyme liquid from it leaked out as she squeezed it. Carefully, she cut it open and focused her concentration to her fingers to find the key amongst other hard object she suspected as the rabbit's bone.

Finally, her finger felt a thin and small shaped object. Lifting it and wiped the blood off of it with her pants, she grinned as she finally found the key. Now, she just needed to go to the rendezvous point deep in the forest.

"Nah, I don't think I need to go there," she said as she strapped the dagger to her pants. "Papa, have you been there, watching me from the start?"

She heard him sighing before stepped into her vision range. "Yes," he said, "I can't let my daughter wandering around the forest alone without anyone watching her, can I?"

"Is the game over? I'm hungry," she said.

"Yes, now, let's go back and I really recommend you to take a bath first before we eat the breakfast," he turned and started to walk.

"Oh, I didn't realize I'm this messy," she eyed the clothes that was by now damp and colored in deep red. "Papa, is it okay to leave the lion there?"

"It's okay, I'll take care of it later, now, for this game result," he said with a smile, patting her head lightly, "I'm proudly say that your instinct is even better than the lion itself."

Lucy bounced happily at the comment. "So that mean?"

His smile broke into a grin. "You are qualified to be an assassin, Lucy, you have the natural talent."

* * *

**to be continued-**

* * *

**a/n:**

Hello, all! I'm so sorry for the late update, but I just have some problem and just now, me and my big brother having a fight to the point he said that he wanted to kill me, and yes, he said that as he strangle me. The source of our fight is small, really, but his temper was a bit disoriented so... yeah. And me, being a _good girl _that never curse openly, actually cursed him and he threatened me to kill me again. Aw, geez, I mean, _please_?

Okay, just forget it, I was rambling nonsense so let's get back to this chapter.

I hope you enjoy this one. I actually wanted to describe the lion thingy in detail, but I don't want to change the rate into M just because of that one scene and I don't want to make the readers puke in disgust. Bare with me, and blame my psychotic part for that is actually my favorite part in this chapter.

**Neru**, yeah, I got the meaning behind your '_binary code_' lol. And I'll make a story special about this Elysian guy, but it won't be separated from this story. Maybe after Lucy and Natsu's part is done, I'll make a special chapter about him. About MH17, I was like 'oh my God, wth' and all. I mean, the villain was so careless! I hope the victims of that _accident _rest in peace... Anyway, see you next chappie!

Drop a **review**! I want to hear your thought or suggestion, perhaps? See you next time!


	5. Fifth Memory: She wonders-

**traverse**

**disclaimer:**

Mashima-sensei does own Fairy Tail

* * *

**Fifth Memory: She wonders what his name is**

* * *

_TRAVERSE_

* * *

She had been living there for, roughly, a week. Her small body had gotten used to the brutal training her father gave her, whether a hundred laps of running every morning or the surprise attack her father did almost every day on her lunch break. What excited her more was when her father trained her senses, which he would attack her with her blindfolded. The pain was beyond what she could handle, especially when he broke her ribs and her left arm.

_But those pains worth it_, Lucy thought, because in no time, her senses were all working and she could dodge most of his attacks. _I feel more like a ninja than an assassin_, she giggled.

And thus, with head held high, pride swelling in her chest, the girl proudly claimed herself as an assassin prodigy, if not Heartfilia prodigy. No, that family had long forgotten since her new father took her in as his daughter. So instead of Lucy Heartfilia, she was just a simple, plain Lucy. And sometimes, she wondered what her father's name was.

Rolling on her bed, she ran her small fingers over the dagger with the golden-colored hilt. It was her first weapon she received from her father when he trained her for the first time. Not having much ornament around it, she decided to carve a rough carving of 'L', showing the owner's name. Using another dagger, she carved the letter rather wobbly, but nevertheless, she was happy with the result. The carving was small and one could not see it except he traced it with his fingers. It was soft, almost like mere scratches.

Without knowing how to use it properly and he did not teach her about it, she decided to play with it on her free time, mostly at night before she fell asleep in exhaustion. And eventually, she brought it with her every time she trained. The first time she properly used it was when her father attacked her suddenly on her lunch break.

He, too, was holding a dagger and thrusting it to her neck, which she dodged it on time and made a poor attempt of defending herself with a spoon. The wooden spoon was cut in half as she ran and cornered. And then, her hand found its way to her hidden dagger and used it to fight him back. She remembered how funny his surprised face was, and she remembered almost making her face cramping for smiling so widely for quite a long time as she heard him praised her for using the weapon correctly.

Lucy glanced to the night stand absent-mindedly. A small calendar stood there, revealing the thirty-one dates of the month of July. A small, wobbly, red-inked circle was seen on a date. July first. Her birthday. She blinked and wiped her eyes to see the calendar more clearly. July first, today is July First.

A huge grin broke in her face, almost making her drop the dagger. She quickly removed herself from the comfy bed and ran to the cupboard, browsing for her best clothes her father gave her. She found a white, knee-length dress and almost wore it, but then, she realized; she will train after breakfast–the dress would get in her way, especially on her martial art session.

So, Lucy decided to wear her usual pair of clothing; a plain gray shirt and black pants. Making her way to the bathroom and did her morning routine, she finished it in record time. Not forgetting to strap the dagger somewhere hidden, she made a dash to the kitchen as she smelled the scent of omelet and milk. She knew her father hates waiting.

"Papa! Good morning!" she beamed loudly as she entered the room.

The man, sat behind the dining table, was grinning broadly. "Good morning, Lucy," he said after sipping his hot tea, "I see you're quite happy now, mind to tell me?"

"I'm so happy! Guess what, Papa? Today is my birthday!" she exclaimed, proceeding on drinking the white milk before continued, "I'm turning five today!"

"Is that so?" she saw him raising an eyebrow, which answered with a series of eager nod from her. "So you're turning five, I see," he muttered, face showing a neutral expression. "This will be the best time for you to train your skill on weaponry," and at his response, Lucy had to restrain her smile from faltering at his response. "Finish your breakfast and follow me," said her father as he stood.

Lucy kept her smile intact and nodded. Quickly eating her omelet and finished her milk, she could not help but feeling rather sad. The five-year-old little girl did not hoping her father to throw a party or giving her present, because all she wanted was, at least, for him to say 'happy birthday' to her.

Then she felt it again. Rejection. Ignorance.

_But I'm an assassin, and assassin isn't supposed to celebrate her birthday_

_…right?_

Brushing the nasty feelings away, she scurried to follow her father. He was walking in front of her with long strides, and each stride, she had to walk for two steps. But her steps slowed, her mind could not banish the sad and disappointed feelings. But then, who was she? Who was _he_? An assassin. They feel nothing, just like a robot. They were a killing machine in human disguise.

Walking through the dimly-lit corridor, she mentally punched herself for feeling those emotions. She was an assassin, but she was also a daughter of her father. So she played two roles and the daughter role allowed her to feel, right? Right, she could feel when she was playing her role as the daughter, and the emotion she wanted feel was happiness.

She snapped out of her pondering as her hand made a quick contact with the moss on the wall; cold and damp. The torches illuminated the long corridor rather weakly. Her bare feet made no sound as they came into the contact with the rough pavement. Lucy felt familiarity with the corridors they had been walking through. It had the same hardness of the stone road, the same weird scent that always filled her nose every morning, and those endless intersections as if she was inside a maze. Then she realized it was the same corridor that she would pass to reach her training ground.

So what was the point to follow him if they would end up in the same room they used every day?

"Lucy, I want you to practice your weaponry, aside than using your dagger," her father said as they arrived at the training room. "And you will be using a _katana_ this time," he gave her a short sword from the cupboard.

"It's heavy," she mumbled, "but I will get used to this in no time."

"Correct, you need to build your strength in your arms so I give you the heavy one," he took another one that was longer, "now, let's get started."

* * *

Her father had corrected her grips on the sword and told her to swing it at least one hundred a day to increase her arm strength. Now, while she was on her lunch break, she decided to ask her father, "Papa, are we going to spend the rest of the day practicing sword or are you going to train me some martial art?"

"Your martial art is excellent already; I see no point for you to continue," he replied.

"So what should I do after this?"

"Continue your swinging practice and tomorrow we will work on attack moves," he stood up, "I'm going to meet a client upstairs, if you have finished your practice, you can go back to your room."

Lucy watched as he left the room. The whole meeting with his client thingy spiked up her curiosity. She wanted to know how her father handled his clients and did his business well, but then again, she was still an assassin-in-training; thereby, she could not stick her nose into whatever that did not concern her business. So, with that in mind, she quickly stood and continued her swinging practice.

* * *

"Ah, finally, what took you so long?"

Elysian raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of him. A woman with long black hair sat on the sofa with chin raised high and arms crossed over her chest. Her plump lips pouted as she eyed him almost uninterestingly.

"What do you want, Akari?"

"Is that how you greet your old friend?" she huffed. "Honestly, A, you haven't changed at all!"

"Don't call me that name in the business," he quickly said.

"Aw, don't you miss me? It's always business in your head, don't you ever think about me?" she purred.

The assassin kept his stoic face, not that he wanted to visibly cringe at her poor attempt of seducing him. He sat across her in silence, allowing her to literally drool at him. "I heard you adopted a little girl, a Heartfilia nonetheless," she stood and sat next to him.

"What about it?"

"No, I was just surprised that you are actually a father," she snickered. "I wonder why, though?"

He closed his eyes in attempt of channeling his annoyed grunt, source of the proximity of the woman. She had crossed the line, he snarled inwardly, but kept his neutral expression. "Move," he said.

"Not until you answer my question," she giggled, "So why, _A-chan_?"

He sighed. Knowing this woman, she always took an eye for an eye. "I saw her potential, turned out she had this natural talent, so why not," he said with a low voice to keep his growl away, "Now, move."

"Fine, fine, _your highness_," she moved back to her seat, "There, you have it, happy now?"

He allowed a small smirk appeared on his face, but made no answer, instead he turned into his business-mode; back straightened and eyes sharpened, but his tone was nowhere near as serious. "So what brought you here? Have your skill gone rusty?"

"No way! Do you want to test it out?" she threw her arm upwards with a small knife on it.

"Get to the point already, I don't have all day to talk with you," he said, ignoring her reddening face of anger.

"Grandine Dragneel," she glowered, "I want you to kill her."

"Why? Some business problem with the Dragneel?"

"You're lucky I didn't ask you to kill that bastard Igneel, I know you want to kill him yourself without anyone orders you to," she put the knife back into her bag.

"Whatever, I'll kill him sooner or later," he closed his eyes, muttered the latter sentence, "Even if he doesn't remember me, I'm still going to kill him."

Akari smiled. "July seventh at ten p.m. sharp, Dragneel invited me to his party that night so I'm going to enjoy his agonized expression."

"You have the deal," he smirked as he leaned for his pocket, reaching for a pack of tobacco.

* * *

_"No, I was just surprised that you are actually a father. Why, though?"_

Lucy almost jumped in surprise as she heard a voice beyond the door beside her. There was a door painted in dark brown, which she failed to notice on her way back to her room. She stiffened abruptly as she remembered the voice, a feminine voice, which she did not recognize. But she had not seen anyone around this house besides her father. Instinctively, the girl reached for the dagger at her side as she wondered if her fatigued form did not just making her hear things.

_"Move."_

And now she heard her father's voice. Wiping away the sweat on her forehead, she decided to walk straight to her room before her mind playing tricks with her again. But soon, she found herself pressing her ear to the door very quietly as not to make her father, who was inside doing Kami-know-what with whoever the other voice's owner was, aware of her presence.

_"Not until you answer my question. So why, A-chan?"_

_"I saw her potential, turned out she had this natural talent, so why not. Now, move."_

They did not just talking about her, right? And… _A-chan_? Who is that? Could it be her father? But then again, her father's name would not be _A-chan_, it had to be a nickname for sure. Her curiosity of her father's name has now skyrocketed, more than her curiosity of who the woman was. Lucy pressed her ear more to the door while sighing inwardly; eavesdropping was never her mother's liking, courtesy of her being a good-natured woman, but Lucy could break it if just for one time, right?

_"Whatever, I'll kill him sooner or later. Even if he doesn't remember me, I'm still going to kill him."_

Who? Who kill who? What kind of person her father wanted to kill? And why? Did her father hold some kind of grudge?

Drowned in her thought, she did not realize that the door was opened, making her to stumbling forward.

_Oh, Kami-sama._

"Lucy, what are you doing here?" she heard her father's voice as she saw his feet.

Lucy met a pair of gray-colored eyes as she tried to stand up. There was a woman in that room, a beautiful woman with long black hair. And she smiled as their eyes met. _Such a sweet smile…_

"Lucy."

_Oh no, I'm so dead now._

"Oh- Um… I…" she stammered, "I was walking back to my room when I accidentally hear that beautiful lady's voice and Papa's voice. I thought it was my imagination, but–"

"Don't you ever hear the old saying that curiosity kills the cat?" he asked coldly.

"I- I have, Papa… I'm sorry, I won't do that again," she bowed her head in shame, "I promise I won't do that again."

The adult man eyed her warily, before a mysterious glint passed through his eyes. Lucy felt like a wounded rabbit in front of a hungry hawk, preparing herself to be eaten by the hungry carnivore as she saw his lips formed a thin smile.

"Say, Lucy, don't you eager to be an assassin in action?"

* * *

The girl quickly lets out a big sigh of relief to her pillow as soon as she entered her room. Her mind was in a disaster now. Sighing for the second times, she rolled to the side and hugged the blanket before tossing it away in a distressed manner.

Apparently, her father's mission was passed to her, making the mission as her first time. And not only that, she believed, heck, she betted, that her father counted that as her second test to prove him that she was a worthy assassin. And a worthy daughter.

But, she was glad, though, because she was able to make a condition, which was risking her life, that if she was able to complete her mission, he would tell her his name. After all, what kind of daughter she was for not knowing her father's name?

Reaching the red markers on the drawer, she made a circle, which looked like a messy oval, on the date of her mission–July seventh. Placing the markers back to the drawer, she plopped herself back to her bed, her mind drifted away in the thought of practicing harder on her _katana_ and martial art. Soon, very soon, she would make him smile in happiness and proud because of her capability.

* * *

**to be continued-**

* * *

**a/n:**

First of all, I want to apologize for the previous chapter; (1) I'm sorry if any of you feeling bad for the slight gore; yeah, blame my psychotic part, (2) I'm sorry for the terribly written chapter, my mind was kind of corrupted when I worked on it, and (3) I'm sorry for blabbering nonsense about my real life on the author notes, which it shouldn't be there at all from the start, and I didn't write it because I want to gain overly sympathy or pity from the readers, which leads to more review, but I do really appreciate for they who gave me his/her concern. Yeah, May-chan, if you read this, I really thank you for your concern.

**May-chan**, thank you for your concern on your last review, it calmed me the most! And yeah, another thanks for the lion's digestion system thingy, and I'm so sorry for you had to experience the bad feeling after-effect of reading that chapter, really, I'm sorry.

I was wondering if I should revise the fourth chapter, because some people may found it (really) disturbing on the lion part. Well, please leave some **review! **Your review motivated me the most! See you next chapter!


	6. Sixth Memory: Her first kill

**traverse**

**disclaimer:**

I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

**Sixth Memory: Her first kill**

* * *

**.:traverse:.**

* * *

One sharp inhale of breath was the only movement that she could do as she dodged the dangerous jabs of sword aimed to her hips. Crouching low, she kicked her opponent's legs to make an opening for her to thrust her sword. But he was faster than her, and far more experienced in both martial art and swordsmanship–he did block her attack as he sliced open her mid-thigh.

Blood gushed out and she hissed, whether in pain or frustration, then forcing her less-pained leg to jump back to gain some distance between them. Deciding to ignore the pain and concentrated more to her gripping on the _katana_, she made a perfect footing to enhance her balance. Both sword-wielders were not giving up easily, even if this was supposed to be a friendly spar.

_Friendly spars my ass!_

Lucy cursed inwardly and quickly thought about a move or two to distract him and planted the final blow to end the spar already. Not having so much time given to think, she avoided the side kick and a horizontal slice to her chest. Having a _friendly_ spar with her father was out of question already, but she would never know her ability if she always training with a stupid dummy.

She needed real human to play with, a real human who would cry in fear or threw several trains of curses at her in frustration; it simply entertained her. That was why she decided to ask her father if she could spar with someone–maybe his acquaintance or another assassin, but instead, her father volunteered and there she was, huffing and panting raggedly and threw several train of curses mentally.

She glared her opponent, which was giving a small smirk in response, and proceeding on attacking him with her _katana_. Yes, Lucy won't give up that easily, not until at least she made a cut on that annoying smirking face.

* * *

"So what's the plan?"

Lucy had to tear her gaze from her half-tended wrist, courtesy of her father's last blow to end the spar, to face her father who did not have any single scratch on him. She had to push away the urge to glare at him and force a questioning face instead.

"Your mission is tonight, what's your plan?" he repeated.

"Oh," she said in understanding, "I'm going to learn the target's house's blueprint, infiltrate the place, and do the execution quickly," Lucy said, inwardly calculating the possibility of being found by the guards and the length of the infiltrating would be.

"That's it?"

She nodded firmly. "That's it."

Her father's lips thinned to show his displeasure and Lucy did her best to ignore the questioning gaze he threw at her. Her wrist was now already tended, covered with white Band-Aid as she tied it securely. Now, she took a little white bottle from the first-aid kit, she had to tend another cut on her upper arm.

"Don't you want to… enjoy your mission?" he asked.

Lucy had to stifle a groan as her work on her upper arm delayed again. "Why?" she asked back evenly.

"It's your first kill, after all," he shrugged, "I did enjoy mine back then, you'll regret it for real if you choose not to."

Lucy merely nodded, and she noted mentally to give a thought about it, before continued on wrapping her injured arm with another Band-Aid. She wondered if her father was actually kept his promise about his name and all. Well, not a promise, more like a must since it was her condition if he wanted her to do the mission.

"Papa?" she asked.

"What is it?"

"I'm going to accomplish the mission so please don't forget our… negotiation," she finally said.

She saw him smirked. "Don't worry, Lucy," he said, "because I won't."

* * *

Night time was her favorite time of a day. Not because of the stars or the windy weather, but she liked it just because the darkness. She quickly found herself having _nyctophilia_, which she was kind of glad of it. She checked her surrounding and found the big boulevard empty and quiet, save for the rustling sound the wind made. And despite the stillness of the road, the opposite was clearly displayed in the big house in front of her.

It was a mansion, to be exact, a really big mansion with wide garden and bushes cropped in shapes. The front big door was wide open, showing the noisy inside of the house. Music played the waltz piece almost softly, and Lucy could guess in the ballroom, if it had one, the guests were now dancing around in glee, completely unaware of the execution in the next fifteen minutes.

Climbing the wall easily, she made her way to the garden and found a back door to slip inside the mansion, courtesy of the blueprints she had memorized hours ago. She found herself in the kitchen, with the maids and butlers and the chefs were all busy. Lucy had not surprised when no one noticed her, she managed to hide her presence and her dark attires were helping her disguise in the dark.

If she remembered correctly, her target was in her room, since she was pregnant and chose not to attend the party. She was wondering where all the people were, because since she went upstairs, she had not met any guards or the maid. But nevertheless, she was grateful for it–she could finish her mission quickly and got rid of her growing curiosity of her father's name.

She decided to enjoy her mission, her first kill, so, being a polite child as her mother wanted her to, she knocked the door softly. A soft, feminine, motherly voice told her to come in and she opened the door. She found a woman with beautiful long wavy blue hair stood in a corner just by the door. Lucy could tell from her eyes that she was surprised to see her, but her smile did not waver, only added with a questioning glint in her eyes.

"Good evening, dear," the woman greeted.

She bowed and smiled, "Good evening, ma'am."

"What are you doing here alone, sweetie?" she asked, crouching a little to match her height.

Deciding to pull an act, she lied, "My Mama and Papa brought me here, but they went partying with the other adult men so I got bored," she said sheepishly, "and I guess my curiosity overpowered my polite manner, again," she added.

"Oh my," the woman gasped, "I thought Igneel told me that the party is for business only."

"I believe so, too, ma'am," Lucy replied, "But I think Mama wanted to show me how the world of business is like, and I'm the heiress so I have to learn much from now."

The woman stared at Lucy in slight disbelief, but the looks were quickly dissolved. "How old are you now?"

"I'm now five years-old, ma'am!" she beamed.

Her target smiled a soft smile. "My son is three years older than you, but he shows no interest of continuing my husband's business, he's more interested in music," she paused to sigh, "Violin is what he only interested on."

Lucy giggled and pointed at the big belly of the woman. "And you do hope your baby would, ne?" The woman nodded. "Can I… Can I touch your belly?"

"Of course, dear," was the reply as the woman leaned back slightly.

Lucy touched the baby almost hesitantly. A slight pang of guilty crossed her chest, making her inhaled sharply to control before waving it away. This mother and this baby would die soon, she thought grimly, but her hand had yet tainted with blood; this would be her last time for able to touch innocents without her sinful hand.

"The baby," she decided to say, "Is the baby a boy?"

"No," the woman shook her head, "The baby is a girl, we had decided her name, well, my son insisted so we call her–"

_"You don't need to know your target's name," her father said._

_"Why?"_

_"It only brings regret and hesitation."_

"Lucy, quick," Lucy heard a voice from the window, which was opened by now, revealing her father crouched on the window sills with a mask on. The soft sigh almost escaped her lips for her father's timing was perfect.

The woman quickly stood in front of Lucy in a defensive manner, as if urging her to stay behind her. Putting a brave face as she asked him, "W-Who are you?"

"Ma'am," Lucy interrupted softly, smiling slightly–almost a bitter one. The woman did not turn her back away from the girl, which Lucy found it better. The sound of a dull _squish_ was the only one she could hear. She closed her eyes, the sight of blood was not the one that would bother her, but the woman's expression of shock and disbelief. "I'm sorry," and she pulled the dagger out of the woman's abdomen.

* * *

Lucy was instructed by her father to quickly go home, while he was going to clean up the mess she had made. Sat on the floor, with back leaned to the bed, she traced the dagger she used to finish her mission. The trace of blood was nowhere to be seen, but the smell lingers faintly. The surface of the knife was as smooth as she remembered, but it was no longer the same. Just like her.

The kill was unsurprisingly easy. Just a swift movement of her arm and then she found her dagger stabbed to the woman's abdomen. Blood gushed out automatically, and a scream filled her ears, ringing in her ears as she drew out the weapon. Now, she felt bad to whoever her son and husband was. Not only they lost a mother and a wife, they also lost their female baby. A sharp pain on her chest made her breath hitched. Was she suppose to crying now? Because she felt like crying, but she could not. No, cry only show weakness, and her father hated it.

The knock on the door thrown her back to the reality. She ran to the door and opened it, revealing her father, which was staggered to his feet. Blood dripped down to the floor from his head. Lucy stared in horror as she traced where the blood source was.

"Papa!" she screamed in shock when her father collapsed to the floor, half of his upper body supported by her tiny figure. "Papa, can you walk? No no no, I should remove this– no, it's not necessary, first-aid kit! W-Where did I put it? Papa, please don't die!"

A raspy chuckle came out forcibly from his pale lips, if not smeared by blood. A hand rested its weight on her head and moved from the top of her head to the back of her neck, locking its fingers with her golden hair. "I won't d-die, yet, Lucy," he said hoarsely, "Not when I still have a promise."

"D-Don't talk, Papa! I'm going to stop this blood!" she was partially shouting now. She ripped her shirt and wrapped his left eye with it before ripping her shirt again and pressed it to another wound on his arm. But the blood did not stop. "Nononono… P-Papa, you are going to be fine! I promise! I-I'm going to call a doctor now, so please don't…" she inhaled sharply, "don't leave me…" _I don't want to be alone_

"I'm not going to die, Lucy," her father said, as if to assure her that he won't go anywhere.

"But you're bleeding!"

"I was careless, it's nothing big," he quickly said. "And I'm known as Elysian, little girl," he ruffled her hair. "Look, the blood is stopping now," headed, but was ignored by her; Lucy was stopped sharply at the mention of his name.

"So, Papa's name is E…" she stopped as she remembered something and frowned, "Papa lied to me."

"No, I'm not lying," he said.

"But the Lady from yesterday said that your name is… _A-chan_?" she gazed his arm with several deep scratches on it. It looked like her father had fought for a while with his opponent using a dagger or sword. Or maybe a pistol, the bullet could graze him like this if her father dodged it in the nick of time.

"Yeah, that _was_ my name," he rubbed his arm.

"So your name wasn't Elysian, back then, Papa?" she asked.

"No, it's not," she saw his eyes was distant, as if looking for something invisible, or his past,"I am known as Elysian now, and not many people knew my real name."

She peered curiously and cautiously to his face. Questioning eyes spoke louder than her voiced question.

"I was known as Acnologia, it was years ago," he paused, "Perhaps far a long time ago before you were born."

"Why?"

A tired sigh escaped his lips, "Lots of thing did happen back then."

* * *

**to be continued-**

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**a/n:**

Lucy's part is now officially finished! Within the years before she meets Natsu on treacherous story, she filled it with training and, mostly, do whatever missions her father assigned her to. Next chapter will explain the killing-thingy from the Dragneel's point of view, how Lucy's father '_cleaned up'_ the mess she had made and all.

And yeah, Lucy's father is Acnologia. Mainstream? Sorry, couldn't think of another better evil character from the manga itself and making an OC will be a real pain in the ass.

Please drop a **review**! Will be updating quicker if I get many review!

Bye bye!

PS. **Neru-chan_,_**it would be wonderful if we can meet! ;)


	7. Last Memory: Avenger

**traverse**

**disclaimer:**

Not owning Fairy Tail

* * *

**Last Memory: Avenger**

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**.:t.r.a.v.e.r.s.e:.**

* * *

A scream was the only one Igneel heard at the moment. And for the next moment, the whole wide hall fell silent before loud murmurs were quickly heard as he stilled, rooted to the spot. The half empty wine glass he held almost fell if he had not placed it on the table near him. He knew the voice's owner; the voice that used to be soft and loving was now screaming as if agonized. He made a quick dash to the upper level, ignoring the murmurs his guests made and arrived in their room in no time.

"Grandine!"

His eyes widened in shock as his wife's blood pooled his black shoes while she leaned to the wall, panting heavily and hugging her belly. He quickly crouched and desperately tried to find where the blood flowed out from, not realizing the shadowy figure stood near the window.

"Well, if it isn't Igneel."

The red haired man drew out his gun from the drawer and aimed it to the other man. "What have you done to her?!" the Dragneel roared, fury clearly displayed through his face.

"Hmm?" he ran his finger to the blood-soaked dagger, "Oh, nothing much, Igneel, just a tiny, little stab on her back."

Igneel gritted his teeth, pulling the trigger, but the bullet only managed to graze the man's arm as he dodged swiftly. Another loud sound of the gun was made and grazed his skin again, but the man made no attempt to attack him.

"Stop fucking around with me!" he once again roared and pulled the trigger, his aim never left the chest of the unknown man. But the stranger was quick, Igneel's bullet almost thrown away in vain. He was, as if, dancing through the dimly-lit room, and that made Igneel's fury reached the highest point.

"Father?"

**CRASH**

"Bastard!" Igneel cursed, not noticing his son was there as well.

"Father? What is happening here?"

But he did not bother answering the question as his mind was now filled with the safety of his wife and his baby daughter. "Grandine!" he screamed for his dear wife. "You're going to be alright, don't close your eyes, please, the baby–"

"Mother, please answer me!" the boy was now shouting.

"Get the ambulance! QUICKLY!" Igneel roared to anyone around him. The woman in front of him was lying limply while hugging her big belly. By her expression, one could tell that she was in a great pain. And her baby, their daughter, was in a great danger.

"Igneel," she gasped, "I'm sorry… for not able to… protect… o-our daugh–"

"Mother!"

"No! Natsu! Get Virgo to call the ambulance now! Don't talk! You're going to be alright, I promise!"

"Natsu.. p-please… please be h-happy even with- without m-me…" the woman smiled slowly, "Igneel… don't… d-don't–"

"GRANDINE!"

* * *

Her frozen smile was the one that prevent the tears to leak from his eyes. As the coffin slowly buried, he constantly patted the shaking shoulders of his son to soothe him. Not that he did not feel the grief, but he was now feeling more hatred than sorrow. The grim atmosphere lasted until the last acquaintance walked away, leaving him and the sleeping boy in his arms.

"Igneel-sama," the maid behind him said in quiet monotone, "I will bring Natsu-sama home if that is fine with you," she offered.

Igneel nodded and moments later they were out of sight. He stood there in silence, gazing at the well-carved writing on the headstone and silently laughed wryly at the colorful bouquets of flowers around it. White Lilies, dark purple Gladioli, and Chrysanthemums were placed around the headstone nicely.

And the picture of his wife smiling was not helping either.

Igneel crouched and traced his fingers on the carving softly. And he did what he thought would never did– he cried.

* * *

"Who's there?" Natsu asked as his vision started to focus. The knock on his window were getting louder and louder that he could not continue his sleep. He stood and walked to the window, only to see the window was now open and a man with a black mask, with gold lines decorating it, leaned into it.

"Good evening, Natsu," the man greeted.

"Who are you, mister? And why do you wear a mask?" he asked.

"Well," the man started, "Frankly, I'm your mother's killer."

The boy's eyes widened. "W-What…?"

"Remember the incident three days ago? The one where you got your mother killed? That was me," the man told him, "Oh, wait, the baby in your mother's belly was also killed, right? So, correction, I'm the one who killed your mother _and_ your sister."

Natsu stilled. Face hardened as he felt the world spinning around him.

Did he just say he was his mother's killer?

"Why…" Natsu started to ask, but quickly stopped. Hatred started to form and he quickly flew a punch aimed to his masked face, but was caught with his hand instead. "I will kill you!"

"Yes, that's it, hate me, despise me! Avenge your mother's death, Natsu Dragneel," the man taunted, "Try to find me, little kid! Find me and kill me! Until then, you will continue to hate me and despise me! Remember kid, my name is Elysian."

* * *

**fin**

**but please look forward to...**

**...the _sequel_ of treacherous****  
**

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**a/n:**

I'm so sorry for the lateness! Well, shits do happen and school has been started since last week and I never get the chance to write this little one since then. I'm gladly announced that this prequel is **finally finished** and the sequel of **treacherous** will be published in a moment as my apology of the lateness. I'll post an announcement about this sequel on the treacherous fic! Please look forward it!

This chapter is actually under my expectation, but I don't want to delay it anymore and about the Elysian or Acnologia's past, well, that has to wait; I have to focus to the sequel of treacherous first.

Thank you for all who has been waiting patiently for this last chapter to be published and everyone who has reviewed and all! You all have my special thanks!

See you in the sequel!


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